Observations from Area Code 706
by Adam Schultz on Sep 28, 2009 1:30 AM EDT
in Editorial
17 comments
It's officially five days until my wedding so the past two weeks I've been prepping for and going through with a 90 mile move from sweet home Alabama to sweeter home Georgia. Saturday, I got the cable and internet hooked up in the new apartment and celebrated it with a beautiful 35-7 Crimson Tide victory over Arkansas. Yesterday marked my first Falcons game ever watched in area code 706. Unfortunately, it was a loss. I suppose you're probably expecting me to fall to my knees in tears of anger and frustration, lamenting all the mistakes our Birds made against the Patriots. Well, I'm not going to. Here's why: I'm 150% confident that, facing a bye week after a horrid road loss, the coaches, players, and staff of the Falcons organization will make the necessary moves and decisions to rectify this problem. I'll say one thing more; the 49ers will be facing a team with a huge chip on its shoulder the Sunday after next.
- The defense was very conservative and didn't blitz much. I don't know if this was out of fear of Brady's arm or an omission in the game plan. I'm not going to make that call. I will say, though, that the Jets had the perfect game plan against the Patriots and it included a heavy rush.
- For the third game in three weeks, I have to once again point to the officiating unit. I don't know what the refs were doing on that "fumble return for a TD" but when a ball hits the ground after being tipped, it is a dead ball. No whistle came. Were the refs asleep on that call? Were it not for Mike Smith having to challenge the world's most obvious incomplete pass, he would have likely thrown that red flag on Moss' non reception on third and long. Boom, Falcons get the ball back, get at least three points. The defense doesn't have the morale sucking "What can we do?" moment. And don't get me started on that complete [censored] call of pass interference on Jenkins. Watching the replay, the defender's arm was locked around Jenkins' elbow before 12 put his arm against the chest of his cover. Then the cover trips. Boom, seven more points the refs cost us. That's 10, for those counting.
- Michael Turner...hmm...well it's hard to defend against a Riddel helmet bumping into the ball, but still, it must be said: PROTECT. THE. FOOTBALL. Still think Turner's thinking too much about that endzone when he gets near it. Second fumble in the red zone in two weeks for the Burner. Let's say the fumble never happened. We've got the ball on the seventeen. Three plays later, we have a touchdown. Boom, seven more points.
- You can't win against the Patriots if you go three and out and only hold the ball for a little over the length of a quarter.
- Risk/Reward, coaching staff. It worked for the Patriots. Why not try a few more fourth down plays?
- It's hard for Gonzalez to catch the ball with a man under and over him. Patriots were ready for #88
- Hmm, from my above observations, I count at least 17 points left on the field. Let's do the math: Patriots 26, Falcons 10+17. 27-26, Falcons win. Yup, we could have won this one.
- We're still 2-1 going into the bye. You can bet your fannies that our favorite team won't be resting on its laurels this off week. I wouldn't be surprised in Ryan's already in the film room, studying.
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Gah, the refs
I don’t think it’s bias, I just think it’s incompetence. That fumble call was so terrible I saw some Patriots fans over at Pats Pulpit remarking that it would definitely be overturned.
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You forgot to mention
the two dropped interceptions by DeCoud. That game showed me that we still have a good ways to go before we’re an elite team. What happened to our “powerful” offense? It’s just one game but we were exposed, especially the D line.
You're Absolutely Right
We’ve got to take the ball when it’s given to us. I love how Thomas DeCoud plays. He’s smart, always in position, and athletic as can be. That being said, he’s GOT to make those picks. A couple of those, Brady hit him right in the hands. It’s not at all the reason why we lost. But if we had forced a turnover or two things might have panned out differently. That means someone in the secondary is going to have to get a pick at some point, end of story.
I kind of thought Jenkins pushed off, but it wasn’t the most egregious play on his part either. I think the DB fell down more than anything else and it ended up looking worse than it was to the ref.
The things that concern me are that 1, our defense doesn’t really look much improved over the past two games, 2, our offense doesn’t look nearly as explosive as last year, and 3, our running game has been mediocre and predictable the whole season. TD and Smitty have said all along that they want to run the ball, and stop the run. Well right now we don’t do either very well.
On positive notes: Curtis Lofton had 19 tackles yesterday, which is absolutely absurd, and Eric Weems has demonstrated that he probably should be our permanent kick/punt returner. He’s going to break one sometime this season, you heard it here.
by LetsGoFalcons on Sep 28, 2009 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm going to jump on DeCoud's bandwagon too
He played an excellent game. It was really the 1st time I’ve really noticed him doing something special. I don’t think you can blame him for not intercepting those passes either. The one in the endzone he barely had the height to reach, the on the sidelines was easier but he just didn’t react quick enough
Blitzing
I said this in the “Planning for the Patriots” thread, and I’ll say it again: I think it’s unreasonable to expect them to copy Rex Ryan’s gameplan. He is known for his blitzing – especially crazy overload blitzes with weird, creative combinations (like blitzing 3 DB’s at the same time, etc). They also run a 3-4. Mike Smith’s Jaguars, and VanGorder last year, preferred to rush 4, with the occasional 6 (or 7) man blitz thrown in.
Maybe they could throw a few extra blitzes into the gameplan, but to do it constantly (like Rex Ryan) would be a complete philosophy shift.
Also:
I’ll have to re-watch the 2nd half, but at least in the first half they did a good job against the shotgun spread. Where they were getting killed was out of the 2+ TE formations, with Brady under center. Gashing them with power runs up the middle, draws, and passing off of play-action…
Yup
I don’t think our problem is in coverage wide sets. We do a fine job with that. We get pushed around at the point of attack because we’re undersized. So in Big sets huge holes open, and in some cases our linebackers do not do a good job reacting and filling the gaps. It’s only one play, but an example was a 5-6 yard gain by Fred Taylor to Peterson’s side. Peterson got to the hole too late and Taylor had the momentum to side step his tackle. We’re just not flying to the ball as well as we did in the first game of the season. That’ll probably come with time, but if the O isn’t clicking and controlling the clock then time is a luxury we can’t afford.
by LetsGoFalcons on Sep 28, 2009 9:44 AM EDT up reply actions
One thing that bothered me
about the entire game was that it seemed like we gave up in the second half. The last two important games we’ve played (this one and the playoff loss), we’ve fallen flat after half-time. I’m starting to fear that we’re going to become cowboys-esque, where we just can’t win the big ones.
Its true. I'm a Falcoholic! I just can't live without Falcohol!
by phoenix falcoholic on Sep 28, 2009 9:51 AM EDT reply actions
If you're going to count points left on the field,
you should probably tot up those left by the opposition, too.
Moss and Aiken dropped passes in the endzone (Galloway missed one at the 3 that could have gone in just before Aiken dropped his); Brady overthrew a wide-open Moss in the endzone once (still not himself) and underthrew him once (great play by your DB, though).
Conservatively, that’s at least 7 and maybe 21 the Pats left behind. So it was a sloppy game on both sides. And the Pats play-calling inside the redzone was anemic and stupid, abandoning the run when it had been working quite well.
The officiating was godawful, and has been all year from my seat. Of the more controversial, the “fumbleception” that Smith had to waste a challenge on was the most obvious mistake I think I’ve ever seen. How can you miss that? On the flip side, the offensive pass interference on Jenkins was kind of a no-brainer. It’s not the most egregious infraction, but Jenks had the armbar up on top of Bodden’s bicep/shoulder, and Bodden did what he could to emphasize the fact. Like taking a charge in hoops, you can help the refs to see it and you should.
All that aside, it’s obvious that the Falcons have a talented young team that just needs to be seasoned a bit. The o-line protected Matty Ice very nicely; I was surprised you didn’t go up top more often — our secondary is crap. Defensively, you have a tidy little backfield. But the run defense needs some serious addressing. Abraham doesn’t like it when you run straight at him and there doesn’t appear to be anyone else to hang a run defense around — you need a rock to build on.
Finally, I agree that the punt on 4th in the 4th was a loser option. Go for it! Your chances are 50/50, but if you punt, you’re inviting a loss. The Pats obliged.
Good luck, Falcaholics. I’m a big fan of your front office, your ownership, and your QB.
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
by JohnHannahRules on Sep 28, 2009 11:18 AM EDT reply actions
Nor I
The vertical passing game basically disappeared after the Jenkins penalty. It’s a shame, too, because I could’ve sworn I saw him towering over a couple cornerbacks….
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by Dave Choate on Sep 28, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Hmmm...
Dont you hate a coulda, woulda, shoulda *, coulda did, woulda did, well you shouldve *. They lost, bottom line, the defense just isnt where it needs to be yet and even if it was, 10 points will never beat the Patriots.
Yeah
In a could shoulda woulda scenario. Point is,is that their opponent didnt beat them by just 1 td, and 1 FG. Doesnt matter is they only scored 9, with your fantasy logic, if the Jets only score 10 and the Pats have 9 then they call plays differently and need only a FG to win(which isnt that hard to get), not a TD. get ya shit straight bra.
I see both of your points here
But let’s not get into the swearing and so forth, alright?
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